Ensuring Remote Hiring Is A Success for Your Business

A lot has taken place during this Covid-19 pandemic. It has affected every area of our lives — health, family, education, travel, government, entertainment as well as businesses to name but a few. For companies that have survived this unexpected season and have actually grown despite the challenges, the task of hiring, training and integrating new employees into the day- to- day operations requires careful planning and execution. Let us see how companies can make the process of hiring remote staff simple and fast.

Job Description

Being the most basic of the documents, this humble job description is the first communication that your company will be having with its future employees. Needless to say, you must spend considerable amount of time in preparing a detailed description of the responsibilities the job entails. There are several benefits of such a document when hiring remote staff especially if your company is looking to fill the positions quickly. The clarity that the document provides will help both you and the candidates to clearly understand the expectations of the role. It will not only increase the chance of identifying the best candidate but may even help in retaining the candidate if the job is indeed what the job description said it would be.

Look Within the Network

With remote work being the new reality, there is pressure to ensure the selected candidate is the right choice. Traditional way of interviewing gives companies the advantage of gauging a person to see if he or she will be a good fit for your company. However, remote hiring services cannot offer this benefit satisfactorily. The way to come around this challenge would be to look within the network. Many a times, your own people will have references which you can use to identify your future employee. As your employees are essentially your company’s unofficial ambassadors, they will be able to speak for your company. They will be able to describe your company and share its culture and work ethics. The references that come out of them would certainly get to know your company better as well as what can be expected of them. As an employer, you would get more insight about the candidates you will be interviewing. It’s a win-win for both of you.

Tried and Tested Systems

Companies essentially search, hire and train new employees. It is important that there are tried and tested systems in place for all of them as it would save a lot of time and money at the end of the day. The more systematic they are, the more seamless the process will be. The candidates will not need to unnecessarily go back and forth with queries if the HR is well versed in handling recruitment. Even though the new employees may start with remote work for your company, there is no reason why the others cannot make them feel welcome. Ensuring that there is a peer assigned to the new joinees will help them in overcoming the hurdles of the first few days. Slotting in meetings with the manager and the team to address any concerns would also help the new recruits to familiarize themselves further and settle in faster.

Information Technology Policy

Information Technology is one of the most important components of the onboarding exercise. As most employees are provided with laptops, mobile phones and access to company system and email, they need to be properly trained on how to access and take care of the equipment provided to them. They need to be familiarized with the company policy on the dos and don’ts of IT usage. Without a thorough understanding, the employees cannot perform their day to day tasks quickly and efficiently. As it is not possible for the remotely working employees to walk to the IT team in case of any tech issues, it is even more crucial that they are trained well on how to troubleshoot should any problems arise.

Building Connections for Fostering Relationships

The sense of belonging in a team, on the floor or in the company cannot be provided when employees are remotely working . In a physical building, it is easier for new employees to mingle and share their day-to-day work and experiences with others. However, in a remote setup, this is not possible. Companies should take the effort to put systems in place which allow employees to bond with their teammates and feel part of the team. With the help of IT, team members and managers should be able communicate with each other on topics other than work from time to time. The goal should be to ensure there is every opportunity provided for connection building with other employees as well as their teammates. The employees should feel wanted so that they can put their best foot forward for you.

Originally published at https://www.virtualstaffing.agency on December 9, 2020.